Contents

About the course

The Teach Cheshire partnership has a hub centred around Macclesfield and Poynton, mainly in 11-18 schools, and a second hub in Winsford. We have high academic standards and are passionate about enabling our students to be creative, resilient and independent learners.

Our team of experienced and enthusiastic mentors will help you become a confident teacher so that you can make a difference to the lives of young people. Through our partnership with our university colleagues, we aim to create a varied development programme that helps you learn about effective teaching and learning, behaviour and assessment strategies.

During the course, you can expect:

Weekly meetings with a well-qualified specialist subject mentor to help with lesson planning and delivery

Fortnightly meetings with a professional mentor to ensure you develop a wider awareness of the role of the teacher, for example by supporting a form or engaging in extra-curricular activities

A study of current, challenging educational issues

A thorough programme of ongoing professional development and careers advice

Opportunities for reflective practice and research.

Most of the year is spent on placement in your home school with a 6-7 week placement in a different school in the Spring.

Whilst on placement your school will offer a full programme of CPD tailored to your needs. In addition, there are a number of joint development days, each held in a different Teach Cheshire school giving you the chance to meet all the trainees on the programme and experience a number of different contexts.

You have about 40 university study days which tend to blocked in September, January and March. University tutorials are held at The University of Manchester campus on Oxford Road, Manchester.

You are assessed against the Teacher Standards through regular lesson observations and the development of a portfolio of evidence. You submit a written assignment to the university each term, reflecting on teaching and learning pedagogy and its application in the classroom.

Interview process

Interviews are held at regular intervals throughout the year in a Teach Cheshire school.

They last half a day and include:

The opportunity to talk to staff and students

A tour of the school

A short teaching task (you will be told in advance about the content of the lesson, the age group and size of class you will be teaching)

Please note that you do not need to have completed school experience before the interview.

How school placements work

You will spend 120 days doing teaching practice in two different schools. The majority of the time is in your home school. We follow the pattern of home school in the Autumn Term, a 6 to 7 week placement in a different school in the Spring Term and back to your home school for the Summer Term.

Home schools are close to our hubs in the Macclesfield and Poynton or Winsford area and the schools we normally use for second placements are in Stockport, South Manchester or the Winsford area. We work hard to ensure travelling times are reasonable.

You will start by observing how experienced staff manage lesson delivery and then you will start to teach parts of the lesson, supported by the normal class teacher.

Your teaching load increases gradually over the year. In the first term, you will build up to teaching a 40% timetable. This increases to around 60% in your second placement and to around 70% by the summer term.

As well as teaching subject lessons, you will work with a form group and have the opportunity to engage in extra-curricular activities. This ensures you are fully integrated into school life. You will be supported throughout by your subject mentor and professional mentor.

Fees

The course fees for 2019/2020 are as follows:

Student type

Fees to pay

UK students

£9,250

EU students

£9,250

International students

£18,000

Financial support

You’ll get a bursary of £26,000 if you have a degree of 2:2 or above in any subject.

You don’t have to apply for a bursary - you’ll automatically start receiving it once you begin your course. Find out how you’ll be paid.

Requirements

Qualifications

For full details we recommend checking the subject pages on The University of Manchester website here.

In brief, you need:

Degree classification of 2:1 or above, although some subjects accept 2:2 or above

Degree must contain 50% content strongly related to the subject you want to teach (subject knowledge enhancement courses may be available if your degree content does not match this requirement)

Good academic background at A Level or equivalent

GCSE in Mathematics and English Language Grade C or above

Successful completion of the pre-entry Literacy and Numeracy tests.

Personal qualities

We are looking for:

enthusiasm for working with children and a determination to make a difference to the lives of young people of all abilities

passion for your subject

awareness of current educational issues

personal awareness of your role as teacher in relation to teaching and learning

your capacity to engage in an intensive period of training

good communication skills

the capacity to reflect on your experience

We encourage prospective applicants to attend one of our regular visitor days.

Other requirements

When we make an offer, it is typical for there to be a number of conditions. For example:

An enhanced check through the Disclosure and Barring Service as advised by the Department for Education.

A health screening questionnaire

Completing school experience (we can help successful applicants arrange this)

In some circumstances:

Successful completion of a Subject Knowledge Enhancement course. These courses are available for certain subjects and give a good grounding in the curriculum knowledge required to teach. Suitable candidates may be eligible for a bursary.

About the training provider

The Teach Cheshire is an experienced School Direct Alliance with a hub centred around Macclesfield and Poynton, mainly in 11-18 schools, and a second hub in Winsford. The main placement schools are

*All Hallows Catholic College

*Poynton High School

*The Fallibroome Academy

*The Winsford Academy

All of the schools in the Alliance have comprehensive intakes and you will get experience of working with young people of all abilities. We have high academic standards and we are passionate about enabling our students to be confident, articulate, creative and resilient.

We have very high completion rates and all trainees have been graded good or outstanding. Over the past five years, on average, 90% of Teach Cheshire trainees found teaching jobs at the end of the course, with a significant proportion employed within the Teach Cheshire partnership. We work closely with our university colleagues to share the delivery of the programme so that you have the opportunity to apply learning from university sessions to the practical context of the classroom, supported and guided by experienced and enthusiastic teachers.

As a Teach Cheshire trainee, you are fully immersed into wider school life, with the opportunity to build up strong relationships with the staff and students in each placement school. You spend time in two different partnership schools, normally starting in one in the Autumn term, going to a contrasting placement in the Spring term and then returning to the first school in the Summer term.

Training with disabilities and other needs

Specialist disability and inclusion staff at both universities provide confidential information, advice and guidance to support students in identifying the most appropriate solutions to potential barriers to learning. Teach Cheshire schools will work closely with the universities to ensure needs are met whilst on placements.

Support and advice

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